1. By Robert & Gloria Leustek
Making Mead
By Robert & Gloria Leustek

2. Now that you have honey, what do you do with it?

3. You make MEAD!

4. The History of Mead

5. The History of Mead
Mead is thought to be the oldest alcoholic beverages know to man.
The history of mead may go back more than 8,000 years.
The oldest known meads were created on the Island of Crete. Wine had not yet been created. Mead was the drink of the Age of Gold, and the word for drunk in classical Greek is methismenos or honey-intoxicated.

6. The History of Mead
The earliest archaeological evidence for the production of mead dates to around 7000 BC. Pottery vessels containing a mixture of mead, rice and other fruits along with organic compounds of fermentation were found in Northern China
The English word mead derives from the Old English meodu, meaning fermented honey drink

7. The History of Mead
Legend has it that the word honeymoon is derived from an ancient tradition of sending a newly married couple off to seclusion for a month with much mead, to ensure their best chance to start a family quickly. Mead has been, and still is, considered the drink of love.

8. Legal
New Jersey Statute §33:1-75 allows for the production of wine or malt alcoholic beverages in the home by persons over the age of 21, not to exceed 200 gallons per year, free from state excise tax. A requirement for New Jersey home beer and wine makers to obtain a state permit
to practice their hobby was
eliminated in January 2012.

9. A fermented drink made with honey, water and yeast also known as MUST
What is Mead?
A fermented drink made with honey, water and yeast also known as MUST

10. What is Mead?
There are 4 main types of ingredients that are most commonly used:
Fruit
Vegetables
Spices, Herbs and Plants
Other Foods such as molasses, maple syrup or chocolate

11. Mead Styles: Sack Mead - a sweeter Mead, with more honey
Melomel - with fruit or fruit juice
Metheglin - with spices
and extracts
A short list .. There are a lot more ..

12. Mead Styles Acerglyn - with maple syrup Morat - with mulberries
Pyment - with both
honey and grapes
Hippocras – with
honey, grapes, and spices

13. Mead Styles
Cyser - honey and apples or apple cider (apple juice in Europe) Can also be made with peach, cherry or pear cider
Braggot - honey and malt, sort of a Mead-beer
Oxymel - Mead mixed with wine vinegar

14. Mead Styles
Rhodomel - honey with Attar, a rose petal distillate, or rose petals
Capsicumel - honey with chile peppers

15. Mead Styles
T'ej –with honey, water and hops. It is the national drink of Ethiopia, and has a unique taste

16. Supplies you will need….
Starter Winemaking Equipment: $74.99 (8200 pg. 68)
Winemaking Equipment Kit Instructional DVD
7.9 gallon plastic fermenter with lid
6 gallon glass carboy, Stopper, Airlock
Bottle brush, Hydrometer
8 ounces of Easy Clean No-Rinse Cleanser
Plastic plunger corker
30- #8 X 1 3/4" straight corks
Racking cane,
5 feet of siphon tubing
Bottle filler
Shut-off clamp

17. Supplies you will also need….
Brew Pot – 3 gallon
Long Handled Spoon
Thermometer
Mix-Stir Agitator Rod
Yeast Nutrient
Yeast Energizer
Acid Blend
Bentonite
Flocculent
Bottles (ask your friends)
Most importantly… Recipes!
We use a Candy Thermometer
Color of bottles – TOM

18. Resources

19. Supplies you will also need….
Corrado’s in Patterson
Corrado's Home Beer and Winemaking Center offers everything you need to become a skilled wine or beer maker! Come see our state-of-the art equipment, supplies, and wine & beer paraphernalia! Talk with one of our knowledgeable staff-members about making beer or wine in your very own home!

20. Terminology and Calculations
Specific Gravity (S.G.) –This is used to determine how much sugar is present in the Must/Mead. The higher the SG, the more sugar is present.
Final Gravity (F.G.) – The measurement of the specific gravity when all fermentation has ceased. The lowest that can be reached is

21. Terminology and Calculations
Alcohol by Volume (ABV) – The amount of alcohol in your Mead, given as a percentage of the total volume. Most wines are around the 11% to 12% ABV, but it is possible to ferment up to 20% to 22%.
pH or Acidity – The amount of acid in your Must will determine the health of the yeast. A solution of honey in water will usually have a natural pH of around 3.7 to 4.6. The optimal pH for yeast is around 3.7 for best results.

22. Terminology and Calculations
Acid blend is a blend of the three most common acids found in fruit: citric, malic and tartaric. It’s typically used in wines that are naturally lacking in acid, which typically results in a flat tasting wine. Acid Blend adds liveliness to the wine and helps to bring out its fruity flavors. Having a proper level of acidity will help establish a vigorous fermentation.
Mouth feel

23. Sweet VS. Dry
How much honey?
Type of yeast?

24. Types of Yeast (pg )
Different flavors, different alcohol content
Example – Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead page 33 leaves 2-3% residual sugar

26. Keep good records Recipe Name
Process: Prep method (including times, amounts, temperatures, acid level, processes and observations)
Brew Date – __/__/__ Batch Size – ___ gal. Honey Varietal – ______ S.G. goal – 1.___ %ABV goal – __%
Continued notes and comments (additions, aerations, rackings etc.) up to bottling and tasting notes.
Ingredients: __Lbs. Honey __gal. Liquid (water/apple cider etc.) __Lbs. Other ingredients __oz. DAP/Energizer __oz. Yeast etc.
Using a standard brewlog will help tremendously with keeping things organized.
Brewing is an Art but it is also an Exact Science

27. The Process Determine the recipe
Gather the ingredients, supplies & additives
Prepare & sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!
All measurements are by
weight, not volume

28. The Process Some of our favorite recipes: Natural Sack Mead
Clove Metheglin
Fall Spice Metheglin
Mulberry Morat
Rocky Mountain Red Metheglin
Royal Metheglin

29. The Process
Did we mention………SANITIZE?

30. The Process
Weigh the honey into your brew pot using equal amounts of honey to water ratio.
Heat to 145 degrees for
8 minutes.
We use 14 lbs for 5 gallons
145 for 8 minutes - Reference:
Talk about Watersource

31. The Process

32. The Process

33. The Process
Taking a taste!

34. The Process
Add 1 tsp Bentonite to 2 quarts of very hot water, mix. This is an early Flocculent.

35. The Process
Mix in the Bentonite

36. The Process
Pour the heated honey into the bucket. Fill to the 6 gallon mark.

37. The Process
Remember honey is a natural antibiotic so we add yeast energizer, yeast nutrient and
acid blend.

38. The Process
After the mixture has cooled to about 68º, take your initial Specific Gravity reading with your Hydrometer.
This will tell you what your potential alcohol will be

39. The Process
Stir in any additives such as flowers or oak chips.

40. The Process Pitch the yeast.
We use a yeast starter made from orange juice.

41. The Process
Firmly cover the primary fermenter, secure air lock and wait for the fermentation.
Store 65-75º (max)

42. The Process
In 1-2 days fermentation should begin and after about a week, the initial fermentation should appear stop.
Then rack off into a carboy,
recap, put in a cool dark
Location. In about 1 week
Take a S.G. reading. If 1.000
Or less we go onto the next
Step. If not, wait a few
more days and take another
reading.
Store not more than 75º Remember – Sterilize!

43. The Process
Once the S.G. reading is or less then with your drill and your Mix-Stir Agitator Rod and whip the mead vigorously. Do not over-whip.
During fermentation – yeast CO2 binds with small particulates. Degassing force CO2 out and settles in a couple of weeks.
Don’t over whip, foam will make a mess!

44. The Process You can also add preservatives such as Sorbate and
a chemical like Metabisulfite to insure that the fermentation process will not continue in your bottles.

45. The Process Then add your flocculent. Popular flocculents are:
Isinglass
Sparkolloid
Mix well, add water to within 1 inch of the airlock
Reinsert Airlock, put in cool dark
place. Wait 2 weeks.
Flocculants are used to clarify quicker Otherwise it could take up to a year or more to clarify

46. Bottling

47. Bottling When you are ready to bottle:
Take a final Hydrometer reading, compare the values to determine alcohol content.
Clean & sanitize your bottles:
One 6 gallon carboy will yield about 3 cases of standard
750 ml wine bottles.

48. Bottling When you are ready to bottle:
Using a racking cane, fill & cork
each bottle.
Finally, Label & apply shrink caps.

49. The Wait

50. The Wait
Always store your bottles on their sides in a cool location 54º is ideal but never more than 75º

51. The Wait
“Reds” age about 1 year
“Whites” age sooner.

52. Credits & Sources Websites http://www.midwestsupplies.com

53. Credits & Sources Websites http://www.medovina.com/history.htm

54. Credits & Sources Books
Making Wild Wines & Meads: 125 Unusual Recipes Using Herbs, Fruits, Flowers & More by Vargas & Gulling
Brewing Mead, Wassail! In Mazers of Mead by Brewers Publications – Boulder Colorado

55. What will your next recipe bee?
Other Considerations
Large or Small batch
What will your next recipe bee?
Questions???

56. The Finished Product Enjoy!
Other Methods, SNA Staggered Nutrient Additions
Wassail (Old English wæs hæl,
literally 'be you healthy')
Enjoy!